President Donald Trump\u2019s decision to attack Tehran was based on American interests, the Pentagon chief has claimed<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump was not \u201cpulled in\u201d to the war on Iran by Israel, but chose to attack the Islamic Republic based on his \u2018America First\u2019 policy, War Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed in a Pentagon press briefing on Tuesday.
\nDuring the event, the war secretary was asked whether Washington was risking \u201cgetting roped back into a war\u201d by Israel, as \u201cthe Israelis are explicitly stating their intent to continue fighting at a later date.\u201d
\nHegseth argued that the core idea that Trump was \u201cpulled into\u201d the Iran war by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a \u201cfalse premise.\u201d
\n\u201cJust to be clear, President Trump has led at every step of this based on his view of American interests and \u2018America First,\u2019\u201d he said, adding that Washington was \u201cgrateful\u201d to have Israel as an ally.<\/p>\n
However, he admitted that \u201cthey may have some objectives at times that are slightly different than ours.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Iran hits US Navy ship with missile strike \u2013 media<\/p>\n
Despite recent fire exchanges between US and Iranian forces, \u201cthe ceasefire is not over,\u201d the Pentagon chief added.
\nIsrael has continued to\u00a0bomb southern Lebanon in violation of the armistice, despite Trump directly prohibiting it from doing so since mid-April.
\nWest Jerusalem has claimed that it is only targeting Hezbollah during its invasion of its southern neighbor, however reports have emerged alleging systematic destruction of entire villages and rampant looting of civilian property by the IDF. Since March 2, Israeli attacks have killed at least 2,702 people and wounded more than 8,000, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
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Footage purports to show Israeli troops looting in Lebanon (VIDEO)<\/p>\n
Despite the ongoing ceasefire, an apparent fire exchange took place on Monday, as CENTCOM forces reportedly attempted to push through the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran considers Washington\u2019s naval blockade of Iranian ports a breach of the ceasefire terms.
\n\u201cThe status quo is intolerable for America; while we have not even begun yet,\u201d Iranian Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Donald Trump\u2019s decision to attack Tehran was based on American interests, the Pentagon chief has claimed President Donald Trump was not \u201cpulled in\u201d to the war on Iran by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t